How the Olympic Games got the torch relay, a tradition with links to Greek mythology

The torch will be relayed across France, and will reach Paris on July 26 — the day of the opening ceremony.

What is the history of the Olympics?

The Olympic Games are said to be around 3,000 years old, beginning as sports contests in Olympia that were held every four years. According to the Olympics website, the date 776 BC is often cited in written sources.

Despite the competitive spirit of the Games, they also signified the possibility of peace. Through a 9th century BC treaty, the tradition of Olympic Truce or Ekecheiria was established. Kings Iphitos of Elis, Cleosthenes of Pisa, and Lycurgus of Sparta signed a treaty allowing safe passage for athletes for their participation in the ancient Olympic Games. This was significant at a time when states were constantly warring with each other, the website says.

However, “In 393 AD, the Christian emperor Theodosius I forbade the celebration of pagan cults, which included the Games,” the website says.

The Olympics would only be revived In 1894, thanks to the efforts of French educator Pierre de Coubertin. The first modern-era Games were held in Athens in 1896. The idea of a torch relay came later.

Flame, mythology, continuity

A symbolic flame was used in the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, but the tradition became solidified with a proposal from Carl Diem, Secretary General of the Organising Committee of the Berlin Games.

“Inspired by torch races that were held in ancient Greek times, Diem suggested that for the 1936 Summer Games a Flame be lit in Olympia and transported to Berlin for what would be the first Olympic torch relay.” And so, the tradition began. More than 3,000 athletes from seven countries participated in the relay.

In Greek mythology, fire was seen as a key element, and a fire was perpetually maintained in various Greek temples. In Olympia, “the flame was lit using the rays of the sun, to ensure its purity, and a skaphia, the ancestor of the parabolic mirror used today for lighting the Olympic flame. A flame burned permanently on the altar of the goddess Hestia, and such fires were also lit on the altars of Zeus and Hera, in front of whose temple the Olympic flame is lit today.” This mirror method continues to be used today.

Changing tradition

The torch is taken across cities and countries, carried by thousands of people for each edition of the Olympics. It travels on foot and on aeroplanes and ships. Nowadays, common people can choose to participate by reaching out to the organising committee.

The identity of the last person to carry the flame to the opening ceremony is kept secret. They are usually figures from the world of sports or young leaders, who light the big cauldron-like structure kept in the stadium. The flame is only extinguished at the Games’ closing ceremony.

For many years, torch-bearers were young, male athletes. It was only at the Munich Games in 1972 that women and people with disabilities were included among the torch-bearers.